Map

Structure in General

Usages

Main Usage

basketball

Side Usage

concert location

Facts

The 18,954 seat (HOK figure) arena will be built on four square blocks bounded by 13th south to 15th (I-670) and Grand Boulevard east to Oak Street, and is considered to be part of the new Power & Light District Development. This project will now cover 11 city blocks.

Anschutz Entertainment Group of Los Angeles has signed an agreement to contribute $50-million of the $250-million cost of the project, which will replace Kemper Arena as the city's main indoor sports center.

The agreement calls for Anschutz to cover any cost overruns AND operating deficits, manage the arena for 35-years and work to attract both an NHL and an NBA teams.

Because of its design, with a reflective glass skin on a wide oval shape, it has been nicknamed the "crystal bowl".

Sprint/Nextel, which has it's world operational headquarters in surburban Overland Park, KS, has purchased the naming rights for the arena for $62-million.

On 8/3/04, voters inside the corporated city limits of Kansas City, MO, approved increases in local hotel room and car rental taxes (frequently called "user fees") to help pay for the arena.

Two connections worth noting: Board Chairman Phillip C. Anschutz is a native of Russell, KS, 200 miles west on I-70 and Kansas City, MO, City Manager Wayne Cauthen came from a similar post in a Denver, where Anschutz makes his home now.

Collectively, this consortium has designed 24 of the 28 multi-purpose arenas in the USA and beat out world-renowned architect Frank Gehry of L.A. and Crawford Architects of
Australia.